The UK’s financial watchdog is under fire for apparently ignoring reports that disgraced payment processor Wirecard was enabling online gambling transactions through bogus eCommerce sites.

On Wednesday, the Times reported that the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was warned last year that Wirecard was linked to a ‘transaction laundering’ network of websites purporting to deal in commercial goods but actually processing payments for European online gambling operators, including some who did business with American bettors.

The Germany-based Wirecard collapsed last month after it was found to have been fudging its books to create an extra $2.1b in reserves that didn’t actually exist. The company filed for insolvency and its former CEO Markus Braun was arrested on suspicion of market manipulation and false accounting.

In 2017, Reuters reported that seven Europe-based eCommerce sites had been facilitating payments for online gambling operators that catered primarily to US customers. The transactions were processed through Berlin-based Deutsche Payment.